The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Aftermath

Chapter Twenty

songs to listen to while you're reading: you found me, how to save a life, never say never by the fray. warning: graphic content ahead

We were driving to a campsite about an hour away. Ricky had agreed to watch the kids for the weekend. Lauren, Madison, and I were having a blast and singing along to songs on the radio.

"Ugh! Madison change the song!" I shout. Somehow, I had gotten stuck in the back seat with no control over what those two put on the radio.

"No!" Madison shrieked back. She started dancing even harder.

The song really didn't matter because the reception was horrible out here and it kept cutting out anyways.

Lauren was laughing when I noticed a car swerving around on the road. It was about 7:00 or 8:00 now and we pretty far out in the country. We'd barely seen a car on the road.

I moved my arm to point towards the car but it was too late. The car was too reckless and too fast and my entire body tensed up. Squinting my eyes up, I braced myself for the impact.

My entire body was thrown to the right. I could hardly feel anything. I vaguely noticed the glass of the window shattering and the car being flipped upside down, and then on it's right side.

All that noise was so loud. So loud. Then absolute silence. So quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

There was ringing in my ears. I pulled myself out of the car window and dragged myself into a sitting position. I looked down at my hands, ragged, bloody, and filled with glass.

I touched a hand to my forehead and pulled it away to find that there was a gash on my forehead. I limply scanned over the rest of my body.

I'm not hurt. I'm fine. It'll be okay. I'm fine.

Suddenly, I hear screaming. Loud, blood curdling shrieks.

"Madison?" I try to call out, but my voice is hoarse.

I call out feebly again, "madison!"

The screaming. The screaming. Make it stop. I crawl myself over to the car to find a relatively unscathed Madison.

"Stop!" I scream. "Stop with the damn screaming!"

Madison looks back at me like a beaten puppy, with wide eyes and tears streaming down her face.

"We were in a car wreck," she whimpers. "I can't believe our car wrecked."

I don't have time to reassure her that everything's okay. "Madison are you hurt?"

She whimpers. "I'm, i'm, I'm okay."

"Okay, okay." I look at her. There's scrapes all along her left calf and a shard of glass, about the size of a baby carrot in her thigh.

I almost tell her to stand when I spot her right hand. It's being absolutely crushed underneath the car door.

"Madison," I say tentatively. "I need you to stay calm."

She breathes in a jagged breath, and then exhales deeply. She takes a few more breaths, each one longer and smoother than the last.

"Okay," she finally replies. "I think I can do that."

"Your hand is trapped underneath the car," I say. "And I'm going to try to get it out. I'm going to try to lift up the car and you need to pull your hand out of the way as quickly as you can. Okay?"

Madison winces and nods numbly.

"Okay," I whisper myself.

I sat down up, a little dizzy, and pull on the metal of the car. It barely moves. I tug. And tug. Finally, I get it to lift up, just a little.

"Go, Madison!"

It takes what seems like forever, but what couldn't have been more than a few seconds, to drag her mangled hand away.

The bone is exposed and the entire hand is covered in blood. I have to hold back from gagging and wrap my jacket sleeved around it and tied it tight.

"Stop!" Madison shrieked. "It hurts."

"I know, I'm sorry."

I think of her grotesque hand and turn away and throw up whatever was in my stomach. I turn back shakily to Madison.

"You're okay?"

"I guess."

"Okay."

Suddenly, I think of Lauren. And the other driver. Where were they?

"Stay here. I'm going to go find Lauren and make sure she's okay too. Maybe look for a phone while you're at it?"

She sniffled, "Okay."

I walked around the the other side of the car and looked around. But Lauren wasn't there. I didn't see her at all.

"Lauren!" I shouted. "Lauren!"

About 10 yards away, I spot Lauren. She must've been thrown out of the car. As approach closer, she looks alarmingly still. What if she's dead? I can't deal with that.

I get down on my knees and feel her pulse. It's faint, but it's there. I breathe a sigh of relief.

I shake her lightly. "Lauren, wake up."

"Lauren, please."

She doesn't even blink her eyes. However, her breath is even. Her heart is beating. She's alive. Lauren's alive.

Okay. Okay.

"Laur, if you can hear me I'm going to move you out of the middle of the street but I need to get Madison first," I tell her unconscious body.

I jog over to where Madison we and she's holding a cell phone in her hands.

"Put that down, we need to go help Lauren."

We pick her up and mover her to the side of the road near some bushes and trees. We Can't figure out what's wrong with her.

"What about the cell you found Madison?"

Her face falls.

"No bars."

This road was so rarely traveled on it could be hours before they found us. Days, even.

And I finally break down and sobs wrack my body.

We're stranded